Looking to relocate (looks like it is a trend!) (Providence: fit in, apartment)

[ediet]

Hi everyone,
My name is Edie and I live in Colorado right now. I have lived here for 30 years (born and partly raised here) and I have had it. I am done with Colorado and need a beach!! I lived in PA and NJ when I was much younger (obviously, about 30 years ago) and my sister lives in NYC. Not wanting to move to the city, yet wanting to be close and in a different climate than CO, I have pretty much settled on the coast of RI (North Kingstown area most likely ) I have a 15 year old daughter and I will be looking for a job, an apartment and wanting her to settle into a school there. I am currently looking for employment and keeping my eye on areas for reasonable rentals, but I wanted to know which coastal town would have the best high school. Also, I have been trying to see if there is a light rail (or train, or some sort of high speed transportation besides buses) to Providence. Here in Denver we have recently expanded our light rail and it is finally getting up to par with some bigger cities and that is one thing that I am sad I will not be able to take advantage of when I leave.
I am pretty scared of leaving my home town, but it is really time for me and my family to move on and I want to make this as painless as possible. I am not very well off and I have been taken aback by some of the posts that say that houses in NK are only decent over $400K. I have subscribed to the NK Independent and I see alot of rentals in the neighborhood of $900-$1200 that seem decent and some even have an ocean view!! Priceless to me after 30 years of mountains, believe me it can get boring, especially under 4 ft of snow.
I also would like to clarify the winter conditions, I have heard that you guys can get snow and I am not scared of that (obviously), but I hate being dumped on as we have for the last 4 years here, the city shuts down, you can't go anywhere or do anything unless you have a 1/2 ton truck (yuck!). I can do with up to 8 inches in a snow storm if clean up is good (how is your DOT there?), but I hate anything over a foot. Is there anyone who has seen a bad winter there or does it mainly stay inland?
Thank you all in advance for any calming efforts you might have on my nerves. I am scheduled to leave here on June 30th at the latest, come hell or high water and as that date starts closing in, I would really like a little insight.
Thanks again!
Edie

[Lula]

Hi There,
we've had about 3 inches total snowfall in southern RI this year! NK has a lot of available rentals but the beach is on Narragansett Bay, not the ocean. Good High school - only about 3 years old. Narragansett is also a good high school, South Kingstown is good, but not as good as it was.
No light rail yet, but it is in the works. NK will be getting the first new station but it will be a couple of years off. From Providence we can hop the MBTA - inexpensive light rail to Boston.
school reports at this link
http://www.infoworks.ride.uri.edu/2007/default.asp
South County independent
scindependent.com
Narragansett Times
narragansetttimes.com

[skytrekker]

Edie

welcome- I live in eastern Connecticut- and am in RI often.
Climate wise it will be a bit milder here then CO- Winters are moderated by the nearby Atlantic, while summers less hot then locations further inland in New England. We have had about 6" of snow here this winter- but there has been cold here the last few weeks. Also, summers can at times here become humid.
Weather conditions here change quickly, from day to day, and from year to year. SE RI can be hurricane prone.

North Kingston is a very pleasant area-located south of Providence by some 20 miles or so. It is expensive for housing-not unreasonably so like NYC, LA, - but a bit higher then Denver.

Housing prices in North Kingston are not cheap- if looking for work- look into SE Connecticut- the huge Casinos offer much in the way of stable employment with benefits- and much lower housing prices as well- with still quick access to the ocean in both Connecticut and Rhode Island.

[ediet]

Thank you both! I will check out the websites provided.
I am really looking for employment in the non profit industry. I have my bachelors in Land Use and I am working on my masters in PA with a focus on non-profit management. I have quite a list going of non profits in the area, but if anyone can help me out with any insight on growing non profits that need assistance, I would appreciate it.
Thank you again for the pointers and for the clarification on the beach front (bay, ocean--I don't care which!! It is not a mountain!! ) And thank you also for the info on the light rail improvements. That is the first I have heard of that, so that is definitely exciting. I wouldn't mind driving for a couple of years to Providence if I knew that public transportation was in the works.

[Lula]

Land use is a hot topic right now in RI, so your crendtials will fit in. There are lots of land conservation trusts, etc. Try going to the Grow Smart website about RI for links.

[Apple Annie]

Ediet, my best advice for you would be to look into the shore area of eastern CT. Maybe towns like Norwich, Preston, Willamantic, an so forth. You can't get real close to the beaches, figure a 20 or 30 min. drive will get you into some of the lower cost of living areas. Anything on/near the ocean is going to be sky high. But housing costs over the line from RI into CT are a lot less. I don't know where you are seeing rentals near the water from NK in that price range, maybe seasonal, or college apts. (URI is in NK) ? You have to move out in June because they can get weekly rents in high figures for the summer months. From CT you can easily take the train to NY or Prov.

Please do some serious homework. RI is not a state you want to get your heart set on beach property, when $400,000 is getting to be the average for inland property. Try www.projo.com and also www.riliving.com

Just the way it is there.

[skytrekker]

Good luck Edie in your search for employment in non profits-I have worked in the field, and education all my life- check into New London and Groton Connecticut and the rest of Southeastern CT- Stonington may fit your needs, as well as Mystic for non profits and social work as well as coastal charm and ambiance.

North Kingston is beautiful- the high prices are not so alluring for housing- as others have said here you will get the most bang for the buck for housing in eastern and south eastern CT- Good luck!

[Lula]

URI is in South Kingstown, not North and most of the college rentals are in SK and Narragansett with a few in Charlestown. By far of the southern RI area, North Kingstown has the most year round rentals available. Housing tends to be a little lower in SE CT, but watch the taxes, they tend to be higher than southern RI.

[ediet]

Thank you all for your responses. I will take them and do some more research while seeking my future employment and housing needs.
I sincerely appreciate all of the input and love that people care enough to give me some insight on a stressful move and have helped make it easier for me.

[jupiter2007]

Originally Posted by ediet

Hi everyone,
My name is Edie and I live in Colorado right now. I have lived here for 30 years (born and partly raised here) and I have had it. I am done with Colorado and need a beach!! I lived in PA and NJ when I was much younger (obviously, about 30 years ago) and my sister lives in NYC. Not wanting to move to the city, yet wanting to be close and in a different climate than CO, I have pretty much settled on the coast of RI (North Kingstown area most likely ) I have a 15 year old daughter and I will be looking for a job, an apartment and wanting her to settle into a school there. I am currently looking for employment and keeping my eye on areas for reasonable rentals, but I wanted to know which coastal town would have the best high school. Also, I have been trying to see if there is a light rail (or train, or some sort of high speed transportation besides buses) to Providence. Here in Denver we have recently expanded our light rail and it is finally getting up to par with some bigger cities and that is one thing that I am sad I will not be able to take advantage of when I leave.
I am pretty scared of leaving my home town, but it is really time for me and my family to move on and I want to make this as painless as possible. I am not very well off and I have been taken aback by some of the posts that say that houses in NK are only decent over $400K. I have subscribed to the NK Independent and I see alot of rentals in the neighborhood of $900-$1200 that seem decent and some even have an ocean view!! Priceless to me after 30 years of mountains, believe me it can get boring, especially under 4 ft of snow.
I also would like to clarify the winter conditions, I have heard that you guys can get snow and I am not scared of that (obviously), but I hate being dumped on as we have for the last 4 years here, the city shuts down, you can't go anywhere or do anything unless you have a 1/2 ton truck (yuck!). I can do with up to 8 inches in a snow storm if clean up is good (how is your DOT there?), but I hate anything over a foot. Is there anyone who has seen a bad winter there or does it mainly stay inland?
Thank you all in advance for any calming efforts you might have on my nerves. I am scheduled to leave here on June 30th at the latest, come hell or high water and as that date starts closing in, I would really like a little insight.
Thanks again!
Edie

HI, first the best of luck in your relocating. It's funny but I"m thinking of relocating to Colorado so maybe you can give me some towns to stay away from. I have a 17 year old son who will be going to college so that would be a priority concern. As to your researach, you have definetely picked a good town to start with. I"m sure you can get a decent home under 400K specially since the market is going down, and North Kingstown has one of the best school systems in the state. The best of luck to you. One thing about RI, you'll never experience such bad weather as to being stuck at home. You'll always be able to get out and about. Even the major snow storms arent's that bad at all. Over all....in the whole country...the East coast is probably one of the best areas to live as to natural disasters.